By Jocelyn Nyaguse

This year has been quite the rollercoaster ride but of all the things that have remained constant, one has been the most glaring to me — the need for information. As a parent, entrepreneur, and participant of the Jamlab Accelerator Programme, there has been a constant need to stay abreast with the news as well as to disseminate the news.

The Impact Chronicles journey has experienced some dramatic shifts as a result. The platform showcases and promotes the work of enterprises across Africa with a specific focus on the founders themselves, their thought processes, successes and struggles. While we understood the important role that information plays, because of Jamlab, we have now come to understand that empathy is of the essence. In our case, it is important to help social entrepreneurs understand that we are there for them and sharing our stories with them has proven to be a source of comfort because it has been a reminder that they are not alone in their struggles.

Impact Chronicles has also been furnished with constant reminders that we need to have solid business structures, and develop a sustainable business model in order to scale our operations and sustain our impact. The good thing is that these reminders have also come with guidelines and lessons around the ‘how’ of it all. We have since developed multiple business models, tweaked them based on customer feedback and iterated. The journey continues but it brings us great joy to have embarked on this journey with Jamlab.

The highlight of this experience so far has been the pitch sessions we have had. It is great to see the work of others and learning from them has been a huge part of the process. Every week, we have been paired with a different colleague to work together, to give each other advice and most importantly, to understand each other’s passions better. Jamlab has been great for us. As the year draws to an end, we get to look back and see how far we have come, and Impact Chronicles has come so far. We are super excited to see and experience 2021.

*Nyaguse is founder of Impact Chronicles

The JamLab Accelerator is a six-month hothouse programme for journalism and media innovators. It is based at Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in the heart of Johannesburg

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